Manipur ranks first among north-eastern States

NEW DELHI: Manipur secured the first position among the north-eastern States and emerged as the best performer among all States with a score of 41.18, on the strength of its high expenditure on science, technology, and environment and high public expenditure on research and development, mentions the second edition report of NITI Aayog. Among the NE & Himalayan States, Manipur occupied the third position. NITI Aayog released the second edition of the 'India Innovation Index-2020' on Wednesday. The index showcases the government's continued pledge towards changing the country into an innovation-driven economy.

During the release of the India Innovation Index-2020 in New Delhi, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Rajiv Kumar said that the index demonstrates that India is on the correct path and the States are striving to advance their innovative environment. He pointed out that Prime Minister NarendraModi always stresses on innovation and technological boundaries as these can solve the issues and fulfil the aspiration of the citizens.

He also stressed the need to improve coordination among the Science and Technology institutions-- both in the public as well as in the private sector. He underlined the need to bring the 'Indian Innovation Index' in sync with the parameters of the global innovation index. Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant said that innovation will play an important role in making the country self-reliant and heading towards the five trillion-dollar economy. He also said that the innovation index will amplify the competitive federalism among the States and Union Territories.

The States and Union Territories have been divided into 17 'Major States', 10 'North-East and Hill States' and nine 'Union Territories and Small States' for effectively comparing their performances in the 'India Innovation Index-2020'. While Karnataka maintained its first position in the 'Major States' category, Maharashtra climbed one step above and stood at the second spot and Tamil Nadu dropped to the third position in the 2020 ranking.

Meanwhile, in the 'North East and Hill States' category, Himachal Pradesh secured the first position followed by Uttarakhand and Manipur. In case of 'Union Territories and Small States' category, Delhi secured the first position while Chandigarh retained its second spot. Karnataka was the highest scorer among Major States, and Delhi among the 'UT and City States'. Puducherry ranked at the bottom of the overall list, while Bihar came last among the 'Major States' and Tripura among the 'NE and Hill States'. Manipur scored 29.87 in the 'Knowledge Worker Index', and secured the third rank in India. The average score in 'Knowledge Workers' (14.46) is significantly lesser than that in the 'Human Capital' (42.32), representing a vital gap between educational attainment and employability among Indian graduates in knowledge-intensive activities. However, Manipur scored the lowest of 4.04 in the business index, and came eighth among the 'Northeast and Hill States'. Delhi scored 39.7 and compared to India's average score on the 'Business Environment' pillar of 16.8, Delhi secured the top spot. Kerala with a score of 37.1 has emerged as the best performer among 'Major States', and Himachal Pradesh with a score of 22.9 among the 'NE and Hill States'. Arunachal Pradesh, on the other hand, with a score of 2.8 finished last in the overall list and among the 'NE and Hill States', Bihar with 5.2 among Major States, and Puducherry with a score of 8.2 among UT and City States. In 'Safety and Legal Environment', Manipur with a score of 71. 52 stood fourth among the 'NE and Hill States'. The country's average score stands at 60.29; and 14 States scored below the national average.

The regional equality of this pillar is noticeable with most Indian States scoring higher than the national average. This is the only pillar where the positive outlines appear from three north-eastern States including Sikkim. The 'Knowledge Output' is one of the two performance pillars with the widest difference between the highest-scoring States -- Delhi with 82.82 and the lowest-scoring State -- Sikkim with 2.31. Manipur scored 13. 97, and attained the third rank among the 'NE and Hill States'. The 'Knowledge Output' has seven markers to govern the score- grassroots innovation, trademark application filed, patents application filed, industries design application filed, publications, start up in the state and new business registration.

'Knowledge Diffusion' mirrors a State's ability to apply knowledge to amplify the value-added components of products and services and in general its aim towards an innovation-driven economy. On this front, Manipur scored 2. 48 and stood sixth among the 'NE and Hill States'. The pillar is indicative of the extent to which a State's economy has grown from a resource-driven to an innovation-driven one. The majority of Indian States, concentrated mostly in the north-eastern and central parts of the country stood below the national average of 17.6. In 'NE and Hill States', Manipur scored 40. 01 on human capital and secured the sixth rank. It is to be noted here that according the report, human capital is measured on the basis of seven indicators -- enrolment in PhD programmes; enrolment in engineering and technology, colleges connected through the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT); higher education institutions with National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grade A and above; pupil-teacher ratio (higher education), schools with ICT labs and National Achievement Survey (NAS) Scores (Class X). (Agencies)

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